When the Daylight Comes
by SummerMistedDragon
Summary: Summary: One shot during the journey to Hadrian's Wall, the night at the White Circle's ceremonial camp, Spoilers for Dragonheart: The Sorcerer's Curse. Title from Maroon 5's song Daylight. Read and Review Please!


**Disclaimer: I love Dragonheart with a burning (ha) passion, but I own nothing.  
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**Yes, I realize the third movie does not in anyway compare to the first which shall forever be the greatest, but it's still pretty cool in its own right. Give it a chance.**

**Summary: One shot during the journey to Hadrian's Wall, the night at the White Circle's ceremonial camp, Spoilers for Dragonheart: The Sorcerer's Curse. Title from Maroon 5's song _Daylight_. Read and Review Please!**

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**When the Daylight Comes  
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"The Druid's Circle. Where I was to get my robe. No more..."

Lorne's grieved tone and slumped shoulders were nothing like the hopeful energy he'd been carrying for that last two days. No one could blame him, because of Brude and the Picts...he'd lost the group of people he'd belonged to in the world. Even a southerner such as Gareth knew of the bond the White Circle Druids held, their beliefs bound in old traditions were still spoken of on the other side of the Wall. Once you were part of the circle, be it an apprentice or master, you were more than family. An orphan such as Lorne...barely strong enough in his art to do a measly knotting spell, had lost everything because of someone he'd once known as a brother had been power hungry.

In all this, he still led them further into the stonework, repressing any outward signs of emotion, the table already covered in dust and leaves and the once pristine archway holding a layer of ash that dulled the rock. It wasn't much for shelter, but it was enough for the night. Brude would not reach them tonight, he'd gather his men for the morrow. Lorne was already moving to clear the stone table he'd probably spent half his life standing beside.

Rhonu gladly accepted the bags holding the now seven remaining dragon eggs when they were passed to her, setting them carefully against the archway before moving to clear a safe space for a fire.

Gareth sighed as he handed the bags over, turning around almost immediately at the low sounds of Drago catching up with them from the shadows.

The wraith like form of the dragon was barely distinguishable in the fading sunlight, the cool air leaving few clouds in the sky as the sunset cast ragged shadows through the trees. Gareth could just make out the dragon before him, the dark scales invisible with only vague outlines able to be seen.

The shifting air was the only other sign Drago was there, he made little noise, moving slowly as if it took a great deal of strength to do so, or maybe it pained him. Gareth wasn't sure how much the now shared heart carried over, but he found himself wishing he could feel more so he could tell if the dragon needed him.

..._Shade by day_...

This curse was maddening, Shades were specters, spirits trapped among the living by sorcerers who played with Black Magic, cursed to live halfway between life and death, never fully present but never able to disappear. Shades were made up of mist and shadows, like images in smoke, right in front of you but never able to be touched.

Drago's shade form finally settled, curling up just off to the side of the table and Lorne with a soft noise none of them could describe. When he stopped moving, Gareth almost expected him to speak, but the dragon remained silent.

With another sigh, this one weary and frustrated, Gareth trekked out into the woods again, searching for dry wood and usable underbrush for tinder. At some point Rhonu joined him, and they soon returned with an armful of wood each. The fire took a bit to get started, both Rhonu and Gareth had waited to see if Drago would help them like he had the night before, but the dragon didn't move, his breathing a bit forced and ragged as he lay there.

The archer had grunted softly, pulling out her flint and scraping it along her sword blade, watching the sparks with weary eyes and her practiced hands tended the lit grasses and stoked the sparks into a warm flame.

It took another hour before the almost full moon was high enough over the horizon for the curse to ease of Drago, his form coming into light slowly as it solidified, they all remained silent on the magic-purple veins tracing over him, like an unholy fire was lit within and was trying to crack through.

Lorne joined them long enough to eat the small loaf of bread handed to him, he passed on the dried fruits, returning to the table silently. Rhonu let him go, moving to undo her blanket and sit watch by the dragon eggs. Gareth sat a moment longer on the edge of the camp, standing only after the sounds of wolves howling broke the silence in the night. While they sounded far off, the wolves were only a few miles from them, probably on the edge of the trails just past wherever Brude was camping. Wouldn't surprise any of them if some of the Picts were tossing meal scraps behind them to attract the wild animals.

Drago moved his head a little when Gareth stood near him, eyes blinking like he'd been asleep and was just now starting to wake up enough to realize someone was there.

The dragon growled, low and weak, "The curse grows stronger, I can't move."

The flat out admittance that this was something not so easily brushed off was enough to make Gareth tense. Was it only hours ago Lorne had said his 'valor' had brought the dragon back into the living world? Where was that spark of hope?

Gareth's desperate tone that came out as a pained whisper only made his heart sink lower, and while Drago let his eyes drift shut against whatever he was seeing, Gareth refused to move his gaze from the dragon. "You have to fight it."

"Brude is a potent sorcerer," Lorne's sudden speaking was enough of an interruption that Gareth remember he was actually there, still standing at the table as he poured over his scrolls. "Which I'll apparently never be!"

His frustrated snap stirred Drago, the dragon blinking slowly as he glanced over to the druid apprentice.

"I can't find a way to break the curse."

Only Gareth saw the faint droop to Drago's already slumped shoulders, the dragon growling a little as he moved more than he had all evening. The look in his eyes was that of someone resigned to their fate of a death sentence without even trying to find a away out, a look of defeat.

"I am now a danger to you all...you must leave."

Gareth's eyes flicked over the dragon's body, seeing even now the binding magic's power tracing further lines over the scales as his form wavered slightly in the fire light.

"We need you."

Drago's eyes finally met the pair that belonged to the human he was bound to. The shared heart beat steadily in their chests, and it only took a second before Drago picked up on the unspoken words behind Gareth's declaration.

.._.I need you_...

"I will _not_ be enslaved." Deep growling only added to the fury behind the dragon's word, Drago shook with the effort it took for him to move one forepaw off the ground, claw sliding along his scales with a grating noise as he shifted it to his chest, ready to stab the sharp tip through the scales, "I will take my own life first."

"And mine?"

Gareth's soft question was enough to make the dragon pause, Rhonu's frantic yell as she jumped to her feet. "No!"

Drago growled softly, not meeting her gaze after catching the passion behind her eyes. Everyone looked to the archer as she glanced around to all of them.

"There must be another way."

A low sigh slid from the dragon before Gareth turned back to him, watching the forepaw drop back to the ground like effort of keeping it up was too much to handle.

"Rhonu is right," The dragon collapsed back against the ground, eyes closed and unmoving other than speaking and the faint rise and fall of his chest from breathing. "I cannot take your life. Choices must be one's own."

With that Drago fell even more still, if that was even possible. Gareth briefly glanced to Rhonu again as she sat back down, eyes staring at the fire as she lost herself to her own thoughts.

Gareth sighed, crouching down to be closer to Drago, voice lowering as the dragon let out a soft noise the human couldn't place.

"I never thanked you for sharing your heart with me."

Drago shifted, voice weak and almost stuttering now, "And I never said I was sorry...for doubting...that you're a true...knight..."

The silence that followed was only broken by the crackling fire and Lorne returning to his reading, the soft rustles of paper barely heard over the snapping flames. Gareth stood after a moment, sighing once more as he turned away, Rhonu's gaze flicked to him before turning back to the fire.

xxx

Rhonu had taken the first watch, Gareth replacing her after an hour once he realized sleep was useless for him and the archer was already struggling to remain awake. Habitually as they had all done multiple times since escaping Brude's camp, Gareth found himself looking over the dragon eggs, fingers brushing over the rough patches that were molded over the smooth gold surfaces.

His weary mind brought back the memory of his first real meeting of Drago, and a smile made it across his face unbidden as he let his hand hover over one of the eggs. The warmth they always held still surprised him, and while Gareth could tell himself a thousand times it was because of the fire nestled inside the baby dragons with the shells, he knew there was more them than that.

The sound of Lorne shifting in his sleep made Gareth finally stand up from where the eggs were tucked between Rhonu, Drago, and the fire. The druid apprentice was shaking slightly in his sleep, whether from dreams or cold, Gareth couldn't tell, but he did what he could given the fact he barely knew the other guy, just draped his own blanket over the mass of white robes, smiling when Lorne stilled, curling up with the blanket wrapped around him as he slept on.

Drago's eyes were on him when Gareth moved back to the fire, seeking its warmth as the cold night air began to get to him. The dragon's form still wavered in the fire light, and judging by how little he was moving, the binding magic was still gripping him tightly. Gareth glanced up at what he could see of the sky, the hazy light from the moon was off to the western horizon, but still high enough that its power reigned, it was going to be a long night.

Neither human nor dragon spoke for a long while, both lost to their thoughts as their companions slept on into the night. Their silence was only broken when Drago outright winced, hissing in air as he shook against a force Gareth couldn't see. The dragon's jaw was clenched, holding back any sound trying to escape as he swallowed audibly, for a tense few moments the dragon was rigid, almost like stone. Gareth could see it strained him to now _not_ move, to fight whatever was pulling at him, they both breathed a sigh of relief when Drago was released, slumping to the ground in exhaustion.

Something deeper than his own will made Gareth stand from the fire, moving to the dragon's head as he groaned softly. The scales were rough under his hand, hard and strong as he lightly slid his palm over them. The warmth given off was soothing as he gently petted the dragon's neck, mindful of the spikes. Drago didn't move, watching him closely before Gareth jerked back with a soft growl of his own.

The human didn't show any outward signs of seeing the almost despondent look in the dragon's eyes when Gareth moved away from him, the sadness was soon replaced with confusion though when the human dumped first his water skin and then handfuls of dirt onto the fire to extinguish the light and heat.

Drago let out a soft noise as the last of the light faded, with it his scales finally settled back into solid form completely. The feeling wasn't one he could easily describe, but it was enough to make him relax.

Gareth returned to his side, hand going back to gently petting his scales with a bit of trepidation. Drago only moved once, forepaw stretching a little in what could be seen as an unconscious movement. Judging by how Gareth reacted when the claws lightly pushed him to be leaning back against the dragon's chest, the human was as oblivious to Drago's intentions as Rhonu and Lorne were to the two of them even being awake.

It took him a few minutes before Gareth relaxed, leaning fully against the warm scales as his hand went back to simply petting the scales, fingertips exploring the different textures. Instinctively Drago shifted around him, wings tucking to guard them both as his head moved to lie closer to the human he first tried to kill.

Funny how things change...

They lay there both in peace, until Drago realized what he was feeling on the back of his neck had shifted from petting that had become soothing, to tapping.

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm?"

He shifted, just enough for Gareth's tapping fingers to stop moving before speaking again, voice low to keep from waking the others, and because he was so tired.

"The tapping? What are you doing?"

"Oh...uh...sorry...just something I end up doing when thinking too much, don't know I'm even doing it half the time."

Drago let out a sound that could have been a chuckle if the circumstances were different, to Gareth it sounded like a choke. "Nervous habit then?"

"Kind of...yeah..."

The dragon hummed, eyes drifting shut as Gareth's hand moved to lightly trace the scales that created the crest on his head, rubbing at the dirt that had managed to stick to the bronze and brown scales. Every time Gareth looked, he found another color in Drago's scales, besides a smoky black base, he'd found gold, bronze, brown, traces of an almost blood color...absolutely stunning...

Around him, literally-though mostly he could feel it from where he leaned against the dragon's chest, Drago relaxed at his touch, body losing the tension that had been gripping him most of the night. The warmth of the scales, the now soft and even sounds of the dragon breathing, and the gentle peace that had settled over his heart led Gareth to finally begin to fall asleep.

He'd just about made it to being unconscious when a soft voice jerked him awake.

"Thank you."

His startled flinch made Drago shift a little, the dragon's eyes apologetic when Gareth finally calmed down to look to him. He relaxed after glancing around just in case, shifting so he could rest his head against the dragon's neck.

"What for? I haven't done anything." Gareth's eyes were closed, missing the slight flash of pain cross the dragon's face.

Drago's voice was still soft when he spoke again, his tone though was enough to make Gareth open his eyes to truly pay attention, "For being here."

"Being here? Why would we leave? Of course we're here, we're doing this together for the fight against Brude, the wall...for the eggs...to get rid of that curse..."

Drago was silent for a moment, and Gareth had just closed his eyes again, unable to fight the pull of the warmth around him dragging him to sleep, when the dragon's next words jarred him.

"...I meant _you_ being here..."

Gareth caught the seriousness in the weary voice, wondering for not the first or last time how old the dragon was to sound like the weight of the world was on his back. Even with the dragon's somber tone, Gareth decided to keep his side of things light, not like he had anything to lose.

"Why wouldn't I be? Brude's after me too, and you saved my life so I owe you one. And even after this, going to have to stick around to keep learning things, can't go jumping into trees all the time now can I?"

The low noise the dragon let out only added to the faint light stirring in his eyes, light that had stunned Gareth when he'd first seen them after getting thrown through the air to have a dragon's roaring and snapping maw suddenly in his face a minute later.

"Not just that Gareth, I-"

"Drago."

The dragon stopped at Gareth's voice, seeing the understanding in the human's eyes of what he was trying to say without needing to. Made it easier as exhaustion was clouding Drago's mind and making whatever he was feeling difficult to handle.

Gareth didn't need to hear the words, the grateful tone that would have said the dragon's appreciation for the human to be there beside him, fully ignoring the fact that any second the dragon could snap, and not just from the magic burning within him.

Drago's eyes slid shut again, mimicking Gareth's own as the human started to drift off again. He couldn't help it, just as his mind would ease, the dragon's eyes snapped open, checking to ensure the human he could still feel leaning against his chest was still there.

Wasn't until Gareth let out a tired moan did Drago realize what he was doing.

"Drago...go to sleep..."

It was obvious Gareth wasn't fully an adult by his slight pleading tone, it brought a faint smile to Drago's face as he finally settled enough to let sleep claim, letting the exhaustion win and lose himself to the realm of rest for a few hours.

Both of them slept better with the other by their side, even if their hearts were not bound together as one, they still would have ended up like this. One thing Gareth knew, dragons didn't make a half bad pillow. And one thing Drago knew, humans weren't complete idiots.

xxx

Dawn came all too soon, and with it came the light and reality they were all dreading, Drago most of all. In the darkness they could pretend for a few short hours that things were ok...now there was no going back as the sun's light began to creep over the horizon and set rays weaving through the trees to burn off the night's shadows.

The coals of the fire still held enough heat when Rhonu awoke just after Gareth had that the archer could still stir up a flame for them to heat up the dried meat they had, made it a little more palatable.

Lorne had begun to pack away his scrolls as soon as they were done eating, glancing up at the trees every few seconds to check the sun. They all were watching the light with an edge of both worry and sadness.

Drago, while the quietest of the bunch for the morning and seeming to be the most at ease, was also the one no one wanted to bother. He'd moved to lay on the other side of the stone table, wings folded properly along his back as he watched them move about their camp. Rhonu checked the eggs again under his watchful gaze before going ahead and sharpening her blade, knowing that later there would be no time should she have need of it.

Gareth had already tended to his sword the night before, and settled next to the dragon without speaking, while Drago wasn't moving much, he was also still in pain form the binding magic. Something had been tugging at Gareth's heart ever since he woke up just before dawn, in that gap between the moon setting and the sun rising. It only took Drago shuddering as he awoke for the human to realize he was feeling the effects of the curse himself.

The brown and gold paw next to him was already tinted with magic, and as Gareth's hand made to brush along one claw, the once solid scales slid through his hand like thick mist, fading as Drago started to pull away from him.

"It is time."

Drago's voice was soft, like a note of finality no one wanted to hear as the sadly familiar mist started to fade his scales into nothingness.

Gareth's voice shook slightly as he barely turned his head to glance over at the dragon, he was unable to bring it louder than just above a whisper.

"Will I still feel your heart?"

Drago's lack of response only made things all that more final and serious, but Gareth wouldn't let that be the end of things as the dragon bodily took a step back from him.

"What do I do? What happens now?"

Now his voice held more conviction, and Drago's eyes met his with strength the human didn't know was still left in the dragon. The warmth in the eyes that had seen more than Gareth could possibly ever imagine drove him to his feet.

While his voice wasn't as strong as he looked, Drago still managed to keep his head up as he spoke, "Follow the code, like a knight always does."

Gareth instead sighed, not accepting the advice for what it was worth, his gaze dropped to the ground in defeat.

"I'm not a knight, I never was. I don't even know what one is anymore..." His voice wasn't anything that Drago had heard since meeting this human, and it honestly made him pause for a minute, forcing the magic binding him to _wait_.

"On the other side of the wall, there is no code. There's just cruelty...I'm sorry."

Drago was mostly gone into mist by the time the human looked up again, but even fading and losing his strength to fight, the warmth that he'd felt while sleeping last night was still in the dragon's voice.

"Gareth, if you...would truly be a knight...your might will uphold the weak, your word would speak only truth...and if this is to be my last dawn of freedom..."

Drago stretched slightly, resisting the curse to the very end as he closed his eyes against seeing the shade he'd become once more, his voice wavered, dropping to barely a whisper that Gareth just managed to hear as the dragon faded into shadows.

"...I'm glad glad you were here by my side...my friend..."

That was all Gareth heard before the shade of a dragon faded into the rising sun, the wavering form moving from him and going limp in the curse's hold before it took hold and drove the dragon away.

Gareth sighed, letting himself have half a moment to himself before turning around to gather his things for them to head out once more. No one spoke as they started moving, as if words would break them at this point.

Lorne finally broke their silence when he stumbled, clinging to Gareth when he'd moved to help the druid to his feet.

"...might upholds the weak...more like holds up the weak..."

"You are not weak Lorne, you are strong in your own ways."

The white robed druid managed a small smile as they kept moving, Lorne falling in step behind them before he smiled a bit wider, mouth saying the words he'd only known in passing, words Gareth took up after the first few as he said them from his heart.

"A Knight is sworn to valour...

_His heart knows only virtue_

_His blade defends the helpless_

_His might upholds the weak_

_His word speaks only truth_

_His wrath undoes the wicked_

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**Review? Anybody? Please?  
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**What did you think about the new movie? I really want to know!**


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